Comments on: Follow the audience into the 21st Century http://minimediaguy.org/2008/04/04/follow-the-audience-into-the-21st-century/ studying the media ecosystem Sat, 30 Aug 2008 01:08:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: » Accountability is Good Business Government Accountability is a Citizen’s Responsibility: Because Democracy is Not Free — we all have to work at it http://minimediaguy.org/2008/04/04/follow-the-audience-into-the-21st-century/#comment-76455 » Accountability is Good Business Government Accountability is a Citizen’s Responsibility: Because Democracy is Not Free — we all have to work at it Wed, 09 Apr 2008 18:48:42 +0000 http://minimediaguy.org/?p=1212#comment-76455 [...] thought-provoking essays on free press and its fundamental role in preserving our democracy. In a four-part series that concluded on April 4, MiniMediaGuy and part-time blogger Tom Abate laid out a series of steps [...] [...] thought-provoking essays on free press and its fundamental role in preserving our democracy. In a four-part series that concluded on April 4, MiniMediaGuy and part-time blogger Tom Abate laid out a series of steps [...]

]]> By: NewSunSEO http://minimediaguy.org/2008/04/04/follow-the-audience-into-the-21st-century/#comment-76301 NewSunSEO Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:44:50 +0000 http://minimediaguy.org/?p=1212#comment-76301 Hello, I am loving the write-up. You bring up some valid points. I agree with Doug's comment 100% though as well. Hello, I am loving the write-up. You bring up some valid points. I agree with Doug’s comment 100% though as well.

]]> By: » Newspapers: don’t FARK yourselves to death MiniMediaGuy: ‘Cause if you ain’t Mass Media, you’re Mini Media http://minimediaguy.org/2008/04/04/follow-the-audience-into-the-21st-century/#comment-76150 » Newspapers: don’t FARK yourselves to death MiniMediaGuy: ‘Cause if you ain’t Mass Media, you’re Mini Media Sun, 06 Apr 2008 22:24:58 +0000 http://minimediaguy.org/?p=1212#comment-76150 [...] Follow the audience into the 21st Century addthis_url = [...] [...] Follow the audience into the 21st Century addthis_url = [...]

]]> By: Doug Milison http://minimediaguy.org/2008/04/04/follow-the-audience-into-the-21st-century/#comment-75929 Doug Milison Fri, 04 Apr 2008 23:18:58 +0000 http://minimediaguy.org/?p=1212#comment-75929 When Eric Lichtblau and his Times colleagues all have blogs (maybe they already do, I don't know the Times web site that well), maybe they'll finally get an earful directly from people who are personally disappointed in the way they helped lead us into the Iraq War, and maybe they'll be able to start earning back the trust and confidence that they, and corporate journalists generally, have lost in the past dozen years and more. Only the Internet, I argue, can help mainstream journalists win back the confidence of the public and return them to the position they used to enjoy, when the Fourth Estate was a powerful court of last resort for whistleblowers and other crusaders intent on stopping government or capital from doing something horrible. But the mainstream journalists have got to start listening again, and they've got to realize that the the public is much more media-savvy now. If the corporate journos manage to do this, and respond to the public again with respect, I predict that they will once again be able to rely on the power of public opinion to support them in their inevitable conflicts with the powers that be, conflicts which are certain to arise if journalists once again take as a fundamental part of their mission, to represent the public interest as they help the community to tell its stories. When Eric Lichtblau and his Times colleagues all have blogs (maybe they already do, I don’t know the Times web site that well), maybe they’ll finally get an earful directly from people who are personally disappointed in the way they helped lead us into the Iraq War, and maybe they’ll be able to start earning back the trust and confidence that they, and corporate journalists generally, have lost in the past dozen years and more.

Only the Internet, I argue, can help mainstream journalists win back the confidence of the public and return them to the position they used to enjoy, when the Fourth Estate was a powerful court of last resort for whistleblowers and other crusaders intent on stopping government or capital from doing something horrible.

But the mainstream journalists have got to start listening again, and they’ve got to realize that the the public is much more media-savvy now.

If the corporate journos manage to do this, and respond to the public again with respect, I predict that they will once again be able to rely on the power of public opinion to support them in their inevitable conflicts with the powers that be, conflicts which are certain to arise if journalists once again take as a fundamental part of their mission, to represent the public interest as they help the community to tell its stories.

]]> By: Ted Shelton http://minimediaguy.org/2008/04/04/follow-the-audience-into-the-21st-century/#comment-75893 Ted Shelton Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:59:18 +0000 http://minimediaguy.org/?p=1212#comment-75893 I largely agree with you. However, listening to Terry Gross interview Eric Lichtblau on her fabulous show Fresh Air I wondered about the continuing ability of the fourth estate to moderate the power of government through the deep investigation and exposure of government wrongdoing. Interestingly, Eric himself makes the argument (unintentionally) for the power of the... err, fifth estate? The Internet. He tells the story of how, faced with the possibility of an injunction against publication, the Gray Lady put a story of his online the day before so that the story could get out to the world. They knew by doing this that they would lose the "scoop" and that posting to the Internet meant that every paper would have the story the next morning. But they used the power of the Internet to broadly and immediately disseminate information to defeat a perceived threat of legal action to prevent publication. So the power of the Internet can be greater than the power of the press. But Eric reports that publication of this article resulted in harassment by the Bush administration and his being stripped of his press credentials. For Eric's career, publication of this report was devastating. Because he worked for an institution that could provide some protection for him, he and his family did not suffer. But what would the case have been if he had been an independent person using the network to post this same story (aside from whether or not he would have even had the story). While I am a huge proponent of the Internet and the future of media being about peer production, the one form of journalism that I worry most about is the one which speaks truth to power. I largely agree with you. However, listening to Terry Gross interview Eric Lichtblau on her fabulous show Fresh Air I wondered about the continuing ability of the fourth estate to moderate the power of government through the deep investigation and exposure of government wrongdoing.

Interestingly, Eric himself makes the argument (unintentionally) for the power of the… err, fifth estate? The Internet. He tells the story of how, faced with the possibility of an injunction against publication, the Gray Lady put a story of his online the day before so that the story could get out to the world. They knew by doing this that they would lose the “scoop” and that posting to the Internet meant that every paper would have the story the next morning. But they used the power of the Internet to broadly and immediately disseminate information to defeat a perceived threat of legal action to prevent publication. So the power of the Internet can be greater than the power of the press.

But Eric reports that publication of this article resulted in harassment by the Bush administration and his being stripped of his press credentials. For Eric’s career, publication of this report was devastating. Because he worked for an institution that could provide some protection for him, he and his family did not suffer. But what would the case have been if he had been an independent person using the network to post this same story (aside from whether or not he would have even had the story).

While I am a huge proponent of the Internet and the future of media being about peer production, the one form of journalism that I worry most about is the one which speaks truth to power.

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